Interactive messages help companies stay connected to their customers while delivering engaging and impactful experiences. These messages (carousels, buttons, list messages, and articles) give users a simpler way to find and select what they want from your business.  Using interactive messages in your bot flows helps reduce friction and increase response rates by making it easier and more intuitive for users to complete tasks and transactions.


When you build a bot flow for WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook Messenger with interactive structured content, including carousels, lists, buttons, and articles, Freshchat will optimize it automatically to deliver an interactive experience for end-users. This would mean that Admins will no longer need to create specific flows for different modern messaging channels manually.  



How bots rich messages appear on WhatsApp


Let’s look at the different types of interactive messages supported on WhatsApp.

    

  • Buttons: These messages can include up to 3 options —each option is a button. They offer a quicker way for users to select from a menu when interacting with a business. Here are a few things to keep in mind while using Buttons. 
    • When you add up to 3 options, they will be displayed as buttons.



  • When you add more than 3 and less than 10 options, it will be displayed as a list



  • When more than 10 options are added, it will be displayed as an IVR. 




Note:

  1. While using buttons, users will only be allowed to choose a single option.
  2. The title of a button has a restriction of 20 characters. Beyond 20 characters, it will be clipped by WhatsApp.
  3. The text of the Button Body has a restriction of 1024 characters, beyond which the text will be clipped.            


  • Dropdown list messages: These messages can include up to 10 options. List messages offer a simpler and more consistent way for users to make a selection when interacting with a business. Here are a few things to remember while using Dropdown list messages.  
    • When you add up to 10 options,  they will be displayed as a Dropdown list.



  • When you add more than 10 options, they will be displayed as an IVR. 



Note:

  1. While using Dropdown list messages, users can only choose a single option.
  2. The title of each Dropdown list item has a restriction of 20 characters. Beyond 20 characters, it will be clipped by WhatsApp.



  • Carousels: These messages allow customers to view a list of products or just one product. A single message can have a selection of up to 30 items.


   


Note: 

  1. The total characters used  (title+sub-title+description+secondary button title + secondary button hyperlink) must be lesser than or equal to 1024 chars. If it exceeds 1024 characters, it will be clipped. 
  2. It is recommended to have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 7 items in one carousel. 
  3. The primary button is mandatory while creating carousels for Whatsapp bots. 

    

  • Articles: These messages can include any links you want to share with customers.



Note:

  1. In WhatsApp, only the article title and URL will be displayed, and the users need to click on the article link to read the article.
  2. If the article URL is missing in the articles shared by the bot, then that article will be skipped and not shown on WhatsApp.


How is text formatting handled in WhatsApp?



If you need to format text for your WhatsApp bot flow, use the pre-listed options on the bot builder (bold, italicize, underline, strikethrough). Admins no longer need to format it specifically for WhatsApp.  



Text formatting options
How is it handled in WhatsApp
Bold
Bold
Italicize
Italicize
Underline
Plain text
Ordered list
  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3

-Item1

-Item2

-Item3

Unordered list 
  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3

-Item1

-Item2

-Item3

Subscript (x^2)
x_{2}
Superscript
^{text}
Strikethrough

Strikethrough


You can find more information related to the Freshchat - WhatsApp integration here or you can sign up for access directly and start the process.



How bots rich messages appear on Instagram


Let’s look at the different types of interactive messages supported on Instagram.


  • Buttons: These text messages can include up to 13 Quick Reply options —each option is a button. Beyond 13 options, it will be an IVR. Instagram allows a maximum of 20 characters; the text is clipped when you have more than 20 characters. Only text format is supported.





  • Carousels: Instagram supports up to 10 options as generic templates or carousels. The Bot primary button (select) will be mapped to button 1 whereas the Bot secondary button (view details) will be mapped to button 2. hyperlink in bots to be mapped to web_url. The text clips if the number of characters goes beyond 80.



How bots rich messages appear on Facebook Messenger


Let’s look at the different types of interactive messages supported on Facebook Messenger.


  • Buttons: These text messages can include up to 13 Quick Reply options —each option is a button. Beyond 13 options, it will be converted to an IVR-like flow.


  • Carousels: Facebook Messenger supports up to 10 options as carousels.  Beyond 10 options, it will be converted to an IVR-like flow.


  • Articles: These messages can include any links you want to share with customers.



Please reach out to [email protected] for any queries.